Tag Archives: sorghum

I am crazy about potato patties. I absolutely LOVE burgers and I miss them so much since going gluten free. I used to make potato patties in a burger bun with lettuce, tomatoes, some onion slivers, cheese and ketchup. They used to be amazing! Now I can just have the potato patties. I’ve thought of making a ‘greenwich’ out of them by enveloping the patty with large lettuce leaves. Never got around to trying it.

I realized that since going low FODMAP, my protein intake has been on the low side. I work out a few times a week as well. I am also vegetarian. All of this meant that I needed to up my protein levels. BUT HOW?

The answer is quinoa. This is a fantastic way to increase protein intake. You won’t even taste the difference!

Potato Quinoa Patties with Indian ‘Khichdi’ style rice

Click on image: 12 packs for $38.05 on Amazon

INGREDIENTS

Boiled potatoes

Cooked quinoa

A handful of coriander leaves

Coriander powder

Salt to taste

Olive oil (or any other oil you prefer)

Additional flavours or herbs you might like

DIRECTIONS

Simply mix all ingredients, except the oil, in a bowl using your hands. Make sure the potatoes get completely mashed while you’re mixing everything up.

Roll them into little balls

Pour some oil into a frying pan and let it heat up

Place the balls into the frying pan. This is a tip I learned from my grandmother. Without the chickpea flour or bread crumbs holding the potato patties together, they tend to break apart. Once the bottoms of these balls start browning, flatten them with a spatula and let it cook some more. When the bottom has browned and is as crispy as you like, flip the patty and cook the other side. (P.S. Patties made without chickpea flour or bread crumbs take longer to cook.)

When done cooking, place the patties on kitchen paper towels to absorb some of the excess oil

WHAT YOU CAN ‘CRUMB’ WITH You can use a few things to coat the patties with to hold it together. I used to use almond flour. Gets really nice and crispy but ever since hearing that it’s not ideal to heat up almonds or almond flour, I’ve stopped using it.

Bread crumbs (GF or regular)

Chickpea flour

Almond flour

Sorghum flour

A batter made out of ‘moong daal’ or yellow split lentils

I want to try sort of crumbing the patty with cooked quinoa instead of mixing it up. I wonder if that will create some sort of a crust. Has anyone ever tried this? Let me know if you have!

UPDATE: I’ve tried making the patties with some leftover quinoa pilaf. There was a fair amount left over and while mashing up the potato and quinoa together, some quinoa ended up on the outer sides. Formed a nice, crispy crust that minimized breaking!

WHAT TO SERVE WITH

You can have them plain

With tomato sauce, ketchup, pesto sauce, cheese, mayonnaise, etc.

With rice – I sometimes like to have it with plain Indian khichdi, or with ordinary rice that has been drizzled with lemon

Al Adil is a nifty little store that’s been around for ages. I’ve been buying my gluten free flours and Indian specialty foods from there for a long, long time. Only recently did it occur to me, after a few mild reactions from the gluten free flours, that they might have been cross contaminated. I called them up today and spoke to Customer Care. I asked to speak to a supervisor or manager who would know about the allergen status of the products. I was transferred several times and finally reached someone who was very, very helpful.

The person I spoke to said that if the flours are milled on the spot in the store, they are milled on the same machine as wheat. However, the prepackaged flours come from the warehouse where they are milled separately, on dedicated machines, but they are milled in the same facility as wheat. So there might be a chance of gluten in the atmosphere. The rep said that the chances of this type of cross-contamination happening was very slim as the area is a very large area but he could not guarantee it. He suggested buying whole Sorghum and whole Amaranth and milling them at home as that would be the safest option.

I really wish they’d have separate facilities for gluten free products. It would make life so much easier! But this is still a pretty good alternative compared to a lot of other companies out there.

Just so you know, Al Adil also has gluten-free flour. I’ve tried it before and had a reaction, but that’s probably because I have multiple food allergies. But you could try it out and see if it works for you. Ain’t this gluten free life of trial and error just grand? Meh.

But oh well, I was really pleased with how helpful Al Adil was. To be honest, I’ve been so fed up with companies! They just don’t bother to take the time to reply back, or they don’t answer well enough. It all just makes it so hard. But the Al Adil rep was really patient and helpful and I was expecting a response somewhere along the lines of “if you think your food is contaminated with wheat flying in the air, you must be crazy” but he actually agreed with me! That surprised me the most! He actually said, “Yes, you’re right. Wheat in the air could be a problem for you if you’re very sensitive.”

By the way, if you do happen to visit Al Adil, just TRUST ME and buy this soft drink called Limca. It’s lemony and fresh and SO SO GOOD! It’s very popular in India but hasn’t had it’s time to shine here. It’s best served chilled!

Obviously, as you might have noticed, I have amazing skills when it comes to giving directions. Those are just a few locations. There are many more stores but I don’t know their locations as well as the ones listed above.